Well, if this report is true, we now have a count of the tiny minority of extremists: evidently, there are 18,000 of them. But of course Reuters — and few analysts — seem to care how these 18,000 were recruited, and whether such recruitment efforts are still effective among Muslims worldwide.
From Reuters, with thanks to nevermindlv:
LONDON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda has more than 18,000 militants ready to strike and the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq has accelerated recruitment to the ranks of Osama bin Laden's network, a leading London think-tank says.
18,000?
That's it? That isn't even a decent-sized Baghdad slum...
Aliyah,
For sometime now I've been reading posts and different threads on here and have kept quiet but after what I just went through, I cannot any longer. First, let me start by saying I watched the news broadcast of newest threats to attack the US this summer and fall and I literally ran into the other room to grab my sleeping infant and hold her the entire time. These people are intent on killing every single person on this earth whether they are Muslim or not. If they were truly Muslims, they would not wish to kill their own AND they would not wish to kill innocent people whether it's women and children or not, INNOCENT MEANS INNOCENT! Now after watching that wonderul news I'm just supposed to go back to my life and not think about burying my child, my husband because of some bastard that claims to be an American or an attack that happens while we're at a mall or some other place or home for that? I fully intend to call the police any anyone or anything I think is odd, I will keep the police on my speed dial and will surely now look to getting a gun. I've never wanted to own one before but since these bastards are running lose in the United States I won't stop to shoot. You want people to see peace in Islam? How can we? We are under attack for being a free country, we are not without mistakes and wrong doings whether they be public or private but now we deserve to die in the name of Allah? Who made them God? Now, onto my second problem:
For years I've been going to this one gas station that is owned by a Muslim. He is always very nice, polite, well groomed. Prior to Sept 11 many of us have always known he was a Muslim, on Sept 11 I was at his gas station when the radio announced the second tower being hit. He turned me, muttered something that sounded like a prayer in Arabic, and told me he was truly sorry if I had anyone killed. At first I was taken aback and wondered why the hell he would be saying this to me? A few days after 9/11 I went back and had my child with me and he looked at me with the most threatening look I've ever seen telling me that I need to make my child Muslim before she and I die. This same person who was always so nice and made extra effort to do some nice and kind things began changing right in front of me starting on 9/11. At first I thought maybe he was being nice and felt badly that he was associated with a religion that had just attacked us but when I saw him after 9/11, he was pure evil. He was still well groomed and kept but was saying all kinds of nasty, evil things. Well he was jumped by several men and beaten pretty badly. You can't expect us to just sit back and continue on our way when he is sitting there saying these hurtful, disgusting things. At this point, I'm even wondering if he is someone the FBI is looking for and believe me, I contacted the police ASAP and they took what I told them seriously as cops were down there quickly and his gas station as since then closed down. He had told me that every Muslim that is here believes that unless you convert you must die. There is no such thing as being here and not wanting to take over the entire world with Islam. He kept stating that Muslims will kill if you do not listen to what they are saying and that no matter what lies a Muslim might say, it is their duty to openly lie in order to get you to come to our side, that there is no such thing as peace, Islam will dominate all and women will lose all that they have ever known, our husbands must rule us so that we behave ourselves. And then I read all the posts here and I'm supposed to forget what this man said to me, the way he looked at me telling me there are many here than just him and that I should never let my guard down! I wish I had a gun that day so I could have shot him dead. Go ahead, tell me that I am wrong for saying that or thinking that but what would you do if someone came to attack your family, Muslim or not, you wouldn't fight for them, what about if you see someone in the street attacking an innocent, a woman or child, would you not step in to save them? If you can tell me no than you do not deserve to have the same liberty that we share as Americans and yet you say we are so hostile and against Islam, why can't you and everyone else understand that we are being attacked and we are just going to sit back and be quiet and nice? How can we? Why can't you understand what America is facing and rather than try so earnestly to educate us on Islam, stand up and tell us that you pray none of us or our family gets hurt or killed regardless of what is being said on these posts? You pray for protection against those who wish to do us nothing but harm and that you pray an angel will be with us, surrounding us to keep us safe whether we are Muslim or not. You keep wanting to educate us but can't you see why we don't want to be told any of this? We are war with an enemy that doesn't listen to reason, that uses something that is supposed to be considered holy as his religion or faith to back up as to why he is doing this, someone who is intent on killing everyone in the name of his religion. The Middle East is so violent and full of hate, how abot Iran/Iraq the years they were figthing one another. You say how we went into Iraq, would you rather we allow Saddam to continue his reign with his sons and those who did not deserve punishment or death, continue dying and bleeding? We took him out of power, yes we have our wrongs but what would you rather have, Saddam in power or out? Without us Saddam would still be in power and god only knows what would've happened to more people. Why can't you, all of you try for at least one minute to understand why we are so in your face about our views on Islam, that is all we see and hear and now with this latest news of more attacks that will be more severe and you expect the American people to just what, relax and learn about Islam? Why so that we may die while we understand this? NO! I for one do not want to learn about Islam, not until all Al-queda, Bin Laden are dead. Once the threat is gone and these people are all dead, I will then sit and learn about Islam. You cannot tell me ever that these people will give up or see the peace that is Islam, what peace? I don't think they know what the word means. My child will never grow up and live her life as she will die this summer along with millions of other innocent people and there's nothing the government or law officials can or will do. If they did, they would've taken the threats prior to Sept 11 more seriously, they laughed it off saying we get millions of threats every day how could they possibly know that those threats were going happen. For all those government/FBI officials: Well, assholes they did and now you're going to take the newest threats seriously becasue why, I'll tell you why, because you are assholes who stood by and allowed millions to die on 9/11 when you already had the information and could've tried to stop it or at least minimize the number of deaths. But no, you couldn't waste your damn time, who the hell cares how many threats we get each day, you should follow each one, you do not know which one is serious or not and if you really were/are concerned with Americans lives, you need to act more like it. No instead you allow foreigners in our world so they can learn about us and take that info back to Bin Laden in order to kill us, you son of a bitches, you should not be allowed to live, how about you and your family being blown to bits that's what you deserve you do our country no good ever. Now you want the American people to help you by notifing authorities and what do you plan on doing with that information? SIT ON IT AS USUAL? You won't do a damn thing because you have no clue!
Well, I will take the law into my own hands now since the law doesn't seem to do anything to help protect it's people. I will not be a victim but I will be the one jail right and those terrorists will be free?
As far any Muslim on this site that truly, TRULY wants to educate us and not kill us, stop telling us that our grandchildren will be Muslim, for once stop and understand what threat we are facing and help us to find a way to bring those down who want to kill us. I implore every REAL AMERICAN on this site to bring those down in anyway in order to safeguard our security and well being. Being an AMERICAN should mean more to those who left their own countries in search of a better life and they should be the first on line to proclaim AMERICA free from terrorism and all it stands for.
Here's a LOOSE way to calculate the tally:
Say there are roughly a BILLION Moslems on Earth and that 10% of them are "Extremists" - that's one hundred million. Of these, say one in ten are "Radicals", making ten million. A tenth of those would be the "Activists", making a million, and a 1/10 of that number are "Militants", equalling a hundred thousand. A further 10% of this group are "Terrorists": approx 10,000.